


5B

by BethGreeneDixon (lilyleesh9)



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Coda, F/M, bethyl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-29
Updated: 2015-05-30
Packaged: 2018-03-31 21:56:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3994333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyleesh9/pseuds/BethGreeneDixon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daryl had pulled her to him and pressed his lips to hers. She was alive. She was here, in front of him, in his arms; final, solid proof that she was alive. And she was his.</p>
<p>❤</p>
<p>Coda and beyond. Long live Beth Greene! Long live Bethyl!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Coda

**Author's Note:**

> * **Disclaimer** : The dialogue and events at the beginning of this work come straight from AMC's TV show _The Walking Dead_ and I do not own said content in any sense. The only parts of this work for which I will claim credit is the imaginative description and retelling of the events of the episodes and the Alternative Universe perspectives and descriptions that follow. This is a work of fanfiction meant only to be enjoyed by readers of the AO3 community and is not meant to gain any kind of profit or artistic recognition for anything owned by AMC or their partners from _The Walking Dead_.

“Glad we could work things out” Dawn sneered, not sounding glad at all.

Carol and Beth were now safely back with the group; the two captive officers had been returned to the hospital officers. Beth’s eyes met Daryl’s as she passed. They each knew now wasn’t the time for an intimate reunion.

“Yeah,” Rick drawled, turning to join the rest of the group who were slowly filing toward the exit.

“Now I just need Noah,” Dawn said cooley. She was still standing in the center of the hall between the two groups, waiting. “And then you can leave.”

The officers standing several yards behind Dawn shifted restlessly while the reunited group stopped walking towards the exit and turned to stare wide-eyed down the hall. Everyone on either side of the hall was tossing quick, anxious glances from face to face. Rick turned slowly and marched back down the hall to where Dawn stood, glaring at her.

“That wasn’t part of the deal.” Rick’s voice was dangerous.

“Noah was my ward. Beth took his place and I’m losing her, so I need him back. My officers put their lives on the line to find him. One of them died.”

Daryl shoved Noah closer to the group huddled by the exit and stepped forward to stand beside Rick. “He ain’t stayin’,” Daryl spat.

“He’s one of mine, you have no claim on him,” Dawn said in one breath.

“He wants to go home, so you have no claim on him,” Rick countered venomously.

Dawn glanced warily at Daryl, then looked Rick up and down. “Well, then we don’t have a deal.”

“The deal is _done!_ ” Rick bellowed. He made to take a step forward when Noah, his leg not yet fully healed, limped into sight next to Rick and Daryl.

“It— It’s okay,” he stammered anxiously.

Rick held up an arm, preventing Noah from passing. “No,” he said, staring angrily into Noah’s face, then turned his virulent stare towards Dawn. “ _No_.”

Noah pulled his pistol from the back of his belt and pressed it gently into Rick’s side. Rick turned and stared into Noah’s eyes.

“I gotta do it,” Noah whispered.

Rick took the gun from Noah and nodded. Noah made to turn towards Dawn when Beth shouted, “Wait!” She lunged forward and hurried up the hall toward Noah. Noah hobbled back to meet her halfway between the group by the door and where Rick and Daryl stood.

“It’s okay,” Noah whispered as she squeezed him to her. After a long minute, Beth let her arms fall, defeated, and Noah continued down the hall towards Dawn. When he reached her, an ugly smirk pursed her lips.

“I knew you’d be back,” she said softly, smugly. She gripped Noah’s upper arm and directed him towards the rest of the officers down the hall.

Beth charged forward, fury in her face, but Daryl grabbed her arm as she passed him. She whipped her head around and stared daggers at Daryl.

“Let me go,” she hissed, struggling to break Daryl’s iron grip.

“Not this time,” he growled.

Rick turned around and placed a fatherly hand on Beth’s shoulder; she scowled at him.

“We’ll get him back,” he promised, vengeance in his voice.

Beth’s chest heaved furiously, but she stopped struggling, her anger slowly abating. Rick dropped his hand from Beth’s shoulder and stared at Daryl. 

“Let’s go,” he ordered, swaggering back towards their group.

Beth looked up into Daryl’s face and her expression softened.

“Come on,” he said, dropping his hand from her arm and placing it gently at the small of her back. He led them through the doorway to the staircase. The rest of the group was already at the bottom of the first flight of stairs and rounding to the next. Before either of them reached the first step, Beth turned to Daryl and said, “Wait.”

She began to speak but before words had escaped, Daryl had pulled her to him and pressed his lips to hers. She gave a startled jump but didn’t resist. She opened her mouth, inviting his tongue to meet with her own. Fire seemed to be spreading within him, filling him with warmth and desire.

She was alive. She was here, in front of him, in his arms; final, solid proof that she was alive. And she was his. He knew it now. No more games. No more unanswered questions. She was his and he was hers.


	2. The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We’ll do it tonight,” Rick said suddenly to Daryl, his voice low and hurried. “I don’t want her involved. I can’t have her running into the line of fire like that again.”
> 
> Daryl suppressed a shudder at the thought of what might have happened had he not grabbed Beth when he had. He secretly agreed with Rick’s insistence that she should remain excluded from the rescue. “You got a plan?” Daryl asked, not looking at Rick directly. He got the impression that _this conversation never happened_.
> 
> “I’m workin’ on it.”

The atmosphere was considerably happier than it had been in a long time. Maggie, Glenn and the rest of the group that had left on their mission for Washington had returned and joined the reunion outside the hospital. Upon arrival, Maggie had lept out of the firetruck their group had driven back to Atlanta and darted forward, nearly knocking Beth over in her haste to grab her into a tight hug. After the first few minutes though, wherein everyone took turns hugging Beth, voicing their delight at having her back, and introducing her to those whom she had not yet met, a feeling of unease seemed to gradually settle upon them all once more.

Beth turned to Rick. “We have to get him back,” she insisted, her face set in a determined stare.

“Get who back?” Abraham asked. He stepped forward, holding a rifle in both hands as though ready to charge as soon as Rick gave the order.

Beth explained how Noah had helped her escape and Daryl continued, detailing how he and Carol had entered Atlanta to search for Beth and met Noah. Then Rick added how Dawn— “that bitch on a power trip”— had demanded Noah back before their group could leave the hospital safely.

“You shouldn’t ‘a stopped me,” Beth snipped suddenly at Daryl.

“So you could what?” he scoffed. “Take on a bunch’a armed cops?”

“It’s done,” Rick interjected, a note of immutable finality in his voice. Daryl and Beth glared at one another; the air between them seemed to crackle with electricity.

After their embrace in the stairwell, Beth had pulled away from Daryl abruptly and looked up at him apprehensively. She had definitely kissed him back initially with as much if not more fervor, so he didn’t understand her sudden hesitation. With an almost pained glance, she had shrugged awkwardly and bounded down the stairwell after Rick, leaving him alone and confused. Had she changed her mind? Did she not want to be with him after all? With an unpleasant swoop in his stomach, he had considered that maybe he had imagined the connection growing between them while they had been on the run together. Or worse: maybe he had broken whatever bond they had forged when he had failed to keep her from being abducted...

“We’ll get him back,” Rick said, and Daryl’s attention snapped back to the present.

“How?” Beth demanded. Daryl admired her tenacity—it was one of the things that made her a survivor, and he was willing to bet it had saved her life at least once in the time they had spent apart. But right now, his patience for her stubbornness was waning. He could tell she wasn’t going to rest until she heard a solid plan to save Noah. He hated her willingness to run right back into harm’s way after they had just gotten her back to safety.

Rick glanced back at the hospital entrance behind them before turning a resolute stare at Beth. “We won’t talk about it here. I’m sure she’ll have her people watching us until we’re out of the city.” Daryl understood “her” to mean Dawn. “Trust me,” Rick intoned, as Beth appeared to want to argue some more.

“We’ll figure it out,” Daryl added. “Soon.” She turned her gaze upon him and her face softened slightly. He couldn’t quite make out the expression on her face. She was surveying him contemplatively, her brow furrowed. Without another word, she turned abruptly and walked over to her sister, who wrapped an arm around her as she approached. They began conversing with Tara and Alisha, both of whom shook Beth’s hand in turn in what Daryl assumed to be a more personal introduction than the quick run-through of new names she had been given upon being reunited with the group.

“We’ll do it tonight,” Rick said suddenly to Daryl, his voice low and hurried. “I don’t want her involved. I can’t have her running into the line of fire like that again.”

Daryl suppressed a shudder at the thought of what might have happened had he not grabbed Beth when he had. He secretly agreed with Rick’s insistence that she should remain excluded from the rescue. “You got a plan?” Daryl asked, not looking at Rick directly. He got the impression that _this conversation never happened_.

“I’m workin’ on it. I got a rough idea. We’ll talk more about it later. Get out of the city, or far enough away from the hospital at least.” He paused, looking around at the group, and Daryl did the same. Everyone looked relatively happy, though exhausted. “Ten minutes.”

Daryl nodded and grabbed his crossbow.

* * *

“So, you two met after all of this started?” Beth asked Tara. She didn’t want to think about any of the issues swarming like an angry beehive in her mind, so she resolved to at least try and get to know some of the new people while she awaited Rick’s plans to retrieve Noah.

“Uh, yeah,” Tara said, rubbing her neck, apparently anxious. Alisha grabbed Tara’s hand and pulled it down to rest between their hips. 

“It was her winning personality that did it for me,” Alisha teased.

“Not for me,” Tara said, eyebrows raised, seeming to ease up some. “I couldn’t stop starin’ at yer tits.”

Alisha released the hand holding Tara’s and backhanded her in the stomach. Tara keeled over, though both women were smiling amidst a few snorts of laughter. Beth laughed nervously, unsure how else to respond; it had sounded like a legitimate blow.

“I’m okay,” Tara croaked theatrically, righting herself and still smiling, “I’m o-o-okay.” She waved her hands as she came fully upright as though sending away a crowd of onlookers, though Beth and Maggie were her only audience.

“I see what you mean about that winning personality,” Maggie quipped. She was smiling, but Beth knew better; her sister was not amused. Tara continued to smile as though Maggie had paid her a compliment, but Alisha’s smile seemed to tauten.

Fortunately, Daryl chose that moment to approach their group; the tension seemed to vanish with his arrival, though a new tension clenched Beth’s chest.

“We’re leaving in ten minutes,” he said, glancing around at the group of women. His eyes lingered on Beth for a moment longer than the rest before he turned and walked away. 

She didn’t understand it fully, why she had run from Daryl. She knew that she felt something for him, something strong. How long had she waited for him to kiss her like that? She recalled the candlelit evening at the funeral home, the last time she had seen him alive before today; he had finally admitted, albeit vaguely, his feelings for her. But something about the passion in his embrace at the top of the stairs frightened her, as if she was tempting fate by enjoying something so perfect. She was terrified to let herself feel as deeply and fully as she did when she was in his arms. If she were to let herself love him like that, it could mean inevitable devastation; she wasn’t sure yet if she was prepared to face that possibility.


End file.
